I just learned something interesting from the internet: the horse that Guido rides off with Dora on in the middle of the film is decorated in a particular way. These decorations have a very important meaning that ties into the subject matter of the film. I recommend looking this up yourself.
Also, here is a most choice video of the actor who plays Guido accepting the Academy Award that this film won.
As you respond to this film in writing, please answer two of the following questions:
- What is it about this film that causes people to cry? This is a chance to really think about story, particularly the idea of set-up and pay-off. Write IN DETAIL about all the set-up's throughout the script that make the end pay-off so strongly. Really thinking hard about this question can help you become a much better screenwriter.
- This film has two distinct parts: the first is about Guido trying to win Dora's heart and the second is about the experience in the concentration camp. How does the first half of the film strengthen the second half? What do the filmmakers do to help the two halves to go together in spite of them being almost two different stories?
- What did you learn about history or about Italy by watching this film? What questions about history or about Italy did it raise?
I'll have to admit, I enjoyed this movie a lot but I did not cry at the end. Josh will protest though ha. It was a really good movie though and I'm glad the actor who played Guido (Roberto Bengini) won an oscar for his performance.
ReplyDeleteI learned that Italy rallied Jewish-decent citizens from 1940-1945 which means for me that Guido and his family had to of been captured near the end. I also learned in order to not of been prosecuted they burned all kinds of documentation that could of tied them to the killings.
I was trying to remember how I was relating Om Shanti Om to Life is Beautiful but could not remember. Now I do because they do have the two stories in one! Thank you that was driving me crazy! It gives off the sense of how they met and at the end it shows how it ends between them.
Hey Tyson, the length of this response is good and I think it is really cool that you did some extra research. You are right that this story would have taken place toward the end of the time that Italian Jews were put in camps because the American tanks show up to free everyone at the end.
DeleteI like the connection between Om Shanti Om and Life is Beautiful. I didn't realize that. Thank you for pointing that out. The question in the post asks you to think about why it is that the two parts work together. Please reply to this reply and address that issue. As you do so, think about Om Shanti Om as well. Do these two films use similar techniques in order to merge stories into one? Does one do it more effectively than the other? Why?
What i think what caused people to cry was because of how attached we were to the characters. First it was just about Guido just trying to win a woman's heart which he eventually accomplished. Which then sets up the feeling that everything is well and they all lived happily ever after. Then all of the sudden, Guido and his family were sent to the concentration camps. Which really through me off, because the first half of the film gave off the feeling that Guido was just going through his love life but then, it switches to him and his whole family fighting for their lives in these camps. Then after you see father and son going through the struggles of just trying to be a father and making it seem that everything was alright. This leads the audience getting more attached, which at the end the main character dies, creating a very emotional ending but also a feeling that his family made it out alive contributed
ReplyDeleteThe first and second half really went well together even though they might have seemed it was two different stories. If this film just only had the family go through the concentration camps would create a whole different feeling compared to this. So these two halves work together well because of the whole different mood setting compared to each other, not only that but the changes of the setting also. The filmmakers what i think what made them go together is creating have the same love type of feeling still there in the characters. At first the love was between Guido and his wife but then it switched to his son which put things together.
I agree that seeing how the characters feel in love helps us bond with them which helps us care about whether they survive the camps. It helps us see that the people who died in camps were more than just victims: they were people with lives that were cut short.
Deletei love they way you explain whts goin on in your post i totaly 100% agree with you jon i agree with you
DeleteI think the first half of this movie strengthens the second half because Guido is trying so hard for her to love him and when he finally does things seems so good and then it just hits him hard. Like of course once he was having a good life and everything was going great some thing bad had to happen to him. Just the reality of once things are good life has to throw a curve ball, it made the bad awful. The filmmakers did really nicely at making the two separate parts go together. I really liked the choice they made to shoot the same spot in the second part as they ending with in the first part.
ReplyDeleteWhat i think it is that makes people cry at this movie so much is seeing this father try so hard to protect his son. Like his little boy doesn't understand that he's being taken away he just knows he wants his mom. So when you get emotions like that it just makes people cry. Well I think that the beginning of the movie was all amazing set up for the second half. Also just the whole time that the boy and his father are trying to escape and the father looking for Dora was a really good set up for when he got shot because it made that just so much harder to watch because they were getting so close to getting out. Another really good set up was when the father made the little boy hide and told him he'd be back but then in the morning when everything and everyone was gone and the little boy thought he had won and the tank showed up and that was really good.
I really don't have too much to say about this movie that I already haven't. It's a drama-dy masterpiece that like most movies Josh has shown this year, rank among my favorite international movies, and this one might actually BE my favorite.
ReplyDeleteI think the first and third questions answer's might go hand in hand. The reason it makes people want to cry and the reason the second half is so impactful is that we see what the characters went through to end up where they are when they board the train. If you had started the movie at that middle point, the climax wouldn't be nearly as impactful as it was originally. Another thing the movie does outstandingly to set up the second half is a lot of amazing pay-off. During the first half, there are a lot of things set up and payed-off, but are brought back in the latter half, which more than works in the movies favor. You really know and feel the pay-off. For example, when Guido first refers to Dora as "Princesss", or the riddles between the doctor and Guido (Actually one of the darkest pay-offs).
But, what else can I say? The movie is near-perfect, and definitely deserved the academy award it earned. Hopefully, along Om Shanti Om and Children of Heaven, I will soon own it on Blu-Ray.
I really like Blu-Ray.
LIFE is really beautiful once you think of it this movie I think made people cry ( including me ) was the charicters they should more then just effort they had enthusiasm and when it came to a serious part they straighten up they know what to do. I learned that it was har very very hard times back then and im glad they still are makin it today I love Italy I thinks its a cool place
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